I have read in several places that lasers can blind pilots, is this really likely?
I would think it is impossible to aim a laser at a pilots eye, at the levels needed to cause damage from a distance of 8-10Km, when the plane is traveling at circa 500MPH.On Monday, a laser beam was directed into the cockpit of a commercial jet flying about 15 miles from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at an altitude of between 8,500 feet and 10,000 feet, FBI special agent Robert Hawk said. It was determined the laser came from a residential area in suburban Warrensville Heights.
I would think the worst that a pilot would see is no worse than the reflection from pools etc. when you are flying on a sunny day!Loren Thompson , who teaches military technology at Georgetown University, said a piece of equipment that could do the things the FBI is investigating would be "fairly expensive and fairly sophisticated."
He characterized it as a reasonably powerful visible light laser that can lock onto a fast-moving aircraft. "That's not the sort of thing you pick up at a military surplus store," he said.
So what do you think?
Fact or Scaremongering?
Jim
BTW I am not suggesting anybody should do it.
Quotes are taken from this Fox News report http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,143005,00.html